Meal planning is one of those actions you can take today to not only help your budget but maybe a bit of time too. I have always struggled to stick with a meal plan. I would try to plan out meals for the month all in one day. But then I realized that wasn’t really working for me and really did little to my budget.

But then we moved to a more rural area and I couldn’t rely on ordering take out on nights that I didn’t have dinner planned. This made me re-evaluate meal planning and I learned the right way to plan to really have an effect on my budget.

Getting Started

The best way to get started with meal planning is to make a list of the things you already have in your pantry and fridge. You will use a combination of using these items and purchasing sale items to save you the most amount of money. Next, check your calendar for the week you are planning. Do you have school functions to attend, nights you are working late? Make sure you plan for these events when selecting meals.

Weekly

By planning your meals out weekly you can adjust your plan for any events you have going on. Budget wise, planning weekly allows you to plan your meals around the grocery ads. Take a look at your store ad and see what is on sale. For example, if pasta is only $0.49 you can plan to have spaghetti one night. 

Stock Up

If possible stock up on sale items that are a great deal and that can store for longer periods of time. Like the pasta example, I usually buy around 10 bags of pasta they are on sale. This will also become useful when the pasta sauce is on sale. You may notice items that complement each other are hardly ever on sale together. Meat is another item I like to stock up on when there is a good sale and especially in bulk.

Buy Large

Meat is one of those items that are always cheaper in larger quantities. I usually buy my meat from our local bulk store and break it down into freezer bags. Yes, it sucks spending an hour or so breaking all meat down, but the savings is worth that hour of my time. When you notice that chicken sale for $0.99 a pound take advantage and have some freezer bags ready!

Leftovers

Do not forget about your leftovers! I used to have this bad habit of putting leftovers in Tupperware only to be lost to the fridge. Then at the end of the week, I would empty all the full containers into the trash. What a waste! But I realized I wasn’t fully making sure they were eaten. Now it is in my meal plan. One night every week is leftover night and everyone can pick what leftover they want to eat. Now it is one less night I have to cook and a lot less food getting thrown away.

Write it Down

Write down your meal plan. I like to keep mine and make a list of dinners I make. Then I can rotate them and know which ones my family really enjoyed. It will also help make meal planning easier in the future as you will have something to reference to. Here is my free weekly meal plan printable.

Do you have any meal planning tips that work great for you? As always I would love to hear from you!